Searches continue for missing mother

Search and rescue members spent six hours Sunday on a fruitless search of a state park in Lyon County for the remains of a missing Carson City mother.

About 25 volunteers scoured the west side and north end of Fort Churchill State Historic Park in the search for Bertha Anguiano, 33, said Carson City Sheriff's Sgt. Bob White. Nothing was found, he said.

Anguiano, a married mother of three, was last seen with her 3-year-old son Nov. 10, talking with a man outside an East Carson City elementary school.

The prime suspect in Anguiano's disappearance, and a man with whom police believe she was having an affair, is serving time in a Utah prison.

Israel "Juan Carlos" Tellez, 36, pulled a gun on Salt Lake police when they approached him Nov. 21 for questioning in Anguiano's disappearance. Tellez was last seen in Nevada at a Fallon motel room the day she disappeared and nearly two hours after Anguiano's 3-year-old son was found bloodied and abandoned at a Dayton grocery store. The boy told police a harrowing story in which his mother was killed by "Juan" and pushed from the truck.

Police believe forensic tests reveal Anguiano's blood was found inside Tellez's truck and on the boy's clothing. He denies knowing anything about her disappearance.

White said the former U.S. Army Fort, 29 miles east of Carson City, is a secluded location on the path Tellez may have traveled the day Anguiano disappeared.

"We are convinced she is not alive and Fort Churchill is one of the areas in Tellez's route of travel where a body could be dumped," he said.

In addition to a land search, White said, cameras were lowered into four abandoned mines in the park's area but revealed nothing useful.

Despite no real clues in months, White said he and other detectives occasionally go to various locations between Carson and Fallon to search.

Last week a search of a Storey County mine came up empty.

Dirt analyzed from the undercarriage of Tellez's truck revealed high levels of tungsten, a substance found around Nevada mines.

Carson City prosecutors haven't filed charges against Tellez and, according to District Attorney Noel Waters, there is no rush to do so.

"I'm not going to file a case until we have to file. It's not very helpful that we don't have a body. Right now he's stored away - he's incarcerated - and we are hoping we'll develop additional leads in this case," he said. "With the weather warming and all those kinds of things, it at least raises the prospect that we may find where her body is. And that could provide additional forensic evidence."

TIMELINE

Nov. 10, 2003:

7:30 a.m. to 8 a.m.: Bertha Anguiano and her 3-year-old son, Andrew, take her 6-year-old son to school at Empire Elementary.

8 a.m.: Man is seen standing with Anguiano in the parking lot of school.

9:20 a.m.: Andrew is found wandering in the Dayton Smith's with blood on his clothes stating "Juan" dropped him off and his mother is dead.

11:30 a.m.: Bertha's car is found unlocked in the parking lot of Empire Elementary School.

Nov. 21, 2003:

Tellez is arrested in Salt Lake City and his 1992 GMC Jimmy is recovered.

March 19, 2004:

A Utah jury finds Tellez guilty of aggravated assault, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and carrying a concealed weapon.

May 3, 2004:

Tellez is sentenced to five years in Utah prison.

Contact F.T. Norton at ftnorton@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1213.